How to Play Bridge | HowStuffWorks How to Play Bridge NEXT PAGENEXT Contract Bridge took off as an international rage in the 1930s and is considered today by many to be the ultimate card game. Even those who have been playing for decades still find room to learn. In this article, we will cover the basics of Contract Bridge, including bidding, playing, and scorekeeping. After you understand the rules for Contract Bridge, you can learn some of the variations like Auction Bridge, Honeymoon Bridge, Reverse Bridge, and Three-Handed Bridge. Let's begin with the rules of bidding in Contract Bridge: Number of players: Four, playing as two pairs, with partners facing each other. Tradition refers to the pairs as North-South and East-West. Object: Following an auction, to score points by taking tricks during the play and to eventually win a rubber of two games. The cards: Each deal requires a regular 52-card deck. It's customary to keep a second pack ready for the next hand. To play: After all the cards have been dealt out, dealer begins the auction (also called the bidding). When the bidding is over, the play of the hand starts.

The play comprises 13 tricks in all. Understanding the bidding: Most games with auctions or bids use a brief and simple procedure. Bridge is special in allowing players to have a creative and complex auction. In the diagrammed deal, West deals and passes, and North opens the bidding 1 . . This is a bid to take 12 out of the 13 tricks on the hand, which South expects to happen. The next three players all pass. South, the first to bid s for the winning bidders, becomes declarer at a contract of 6. In Bridge, players on both sides bid for their side's right to choose the trump suit or to play the hand at NT (no-trump). The dealer starts the bidding. A bid is a number 1-7 plus a suit ( , , , , or NT). The number, added to six, indicates how many tricks your side is to take with the suit bid as trumps. Each time it's your turn, you may bid or pass (make no bid). Simply put, if you can manage to win the bid at a suit in which your side has more cards than the other side has, it will greatly help in winning tricks.

Useful Bridge Terms Undertricks: number of tricks the declaring side falls short of the contract Void: no cards in a suit Vulnerable: a side that has won a game in a rubber For a complete listing of card terminology, click here . The lowest bid, 1 , is a contract your side would fulfill by taking at least 7 tricks with clubs as trumps. Similarly, 1 indicates 7 tricks with diamonds as trumps; 3 means 9 tricks with diamonds as trumps; 3 NT means 9 tricks with no suit as trumps. The bidding can start with any opening bid. During the auction, players in turn may pass or bid (or in frequent cases, may double or redouble). Each new bid must be higher than the previous bid. The new bid may be in a higher-ranking suit without increasing the number of tricks: s rank lowest, followed by , , , and NT. The easiest way to remember the suit ranking is that the four suits rank alphabetically, and NT ranks the highest of all. (In Bridge, s and s are called majors; s and s are called minors). Or, if you go to a higher number of tricks, you can bid in any suit or NT.

The auction ends as soon as three players in a row pass. The last bid becomes the final contract. Whichever partner first bid the winning trump suit is called the declarer. (In the hand above, South becomes the declarer because he bid s before North). By the way, don't let any other player see your cards during the auction. Double and redouble: If your opponent has made the most recent bid, at your turn you may double (just say the word "double"). This means you double the stakes, i.e., if you make your contract, you win double the number of points -- your risk is also correspondingly greater. Either opponent can then redouble. Three passes end every auction, so it's quite possible for the final contract to be doubled or redoubled, increasing the score. Bidding Strategies: When you are first learning to play bridge, determining what to bid can be confusing. As you continue to play, you will quickly learn that making an intelligent bid is key to winning the game. It will take a lot of practice to understand all the nuances of bidding, and we won't get into any of the fine points here -- whole books have been written about bidding strategies!

However, to help you get started, here are some basic guidelines to help you develop your bidding skills. Arrange your hand according to suit. Now assign points to your cards in the following way: Aces, 4 points; kings, 3 points; queens, 2 points; jacks, 1 point; singleton (only one card in a suit), 1 point; void (no cards in a suit), 2 points. Add up your points. Now look at your cards to determine which is your strongest suit. To bid a suit as trump, you'll want to have 4-5 of the suit with a minimum of 1-2 high cards. If you have 16-18 points and a fairly even distribution of cards in each suit, you may consider bidding no trump. The general rule of thumb is to open a bid (to bid first on your team) only if you have 13 or more points. Of course, it's a different story if your partner has already bid because he is signaling to you that he already has sufficient points to open. In that case he is asking you if you can support his suit or if you have another suit you'd like to introduce.

In answering your partner's opening bid, you should have at least 6-8 points to support his suit and 8-10 if you're introducing a new suit. On the other hand, if your partner has passed and you don't have 13 points, it may be wise for you to pass as well. As you and your partner bid back and forth, try to ascertain how many points you have as a team. For instance, if you believe that your partner's points and your points combine to total 28 or more, you should have enough to take a bid of 4. For a bid of 6, 33 points should suffice, and for a bid of 7 (a "grand slam"), you should have 36 points between you. There are numerous other point-counting conventions, but these cover some of the essentials. Of course, every rule has some exceptions, and you must also pay attention to your opponents' bidding. You may find that they're bidding a suit that is particularly strong in your hand.

Then you have to decide, based on what your partner has bid and your own points, whether it would be a better strategy to allow your opponents' bid to go through and try to set them or try to win the contract yourself and thus earn game points. Now that you understand the rules and strategies for the auction portion of Contract Bridge, you're ready to read about playing the hand. Up Next How to Play Contract Bridge How to Play Contract Bridge Scoring Contract Bridge is an auction and trick-taking card game for four players. The aim of the game is to earn points by winning as many tricks as possible. The players are divided into two teams of two. Each player is designated a compass direction, with partners sitting opposite each other (i.e. East-West will play against North-South). The game is played with a single standard 52-card deck, although having two decks available can move the game along more quickly. Bridge is played over a series of hands. Each hand consists of two parts: the auction, where the partnerships bid against each other based on how strong they think their cards are; and the play, where teams try to win enough tricks to make or defeat the contract reached in the auction.

Points are awarded depending on success or failure, and then another hand begins. Winning enough points earns a partnership a game. Winning two games makes a rubber (except in Duplicate Bridge, where each hand is treated independently). The Deal One player is designated the dealer. He shuffles the deck and deals them all out clockwise, starting with the player to his left. Each player takes their 13 cards, looks at them and then sorts them. Cards are divided by suit and ordered by rank, with ace being the highest and 2 the lowest. The difference between the suits is important for the auction and scoring, but not for play. Once the hand is completed, the player to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer and a new hand begins. If you're playing with two decks, the deck not being used for the hand can be shuffled and placed ready for the next dealer to make the game flow more quickly. Bridge is a trick-taking game. If you know how to play other popular games like Whist, Hearts or Spades then you'll find that the cardplay of Bridge is very similar. Although the auction comes first (see below), it's easier to understand once you know the basics of play.

All you need to know for now is that the auction will determine the contract for the hand. The contract will specify a number of tricks and a suit for trumps (although there may be No Trumps). The team that bids the highest is the declaring side. The other team is the defending side. The declaring side will try to win the number of tricks bid, while the defending side will try to stop them. A trick is a set of four cards, one from each player. The player to the left of the declarer (see below) leads the first card of the hand and play proceeds clockwise until all four players have played. The first card of each trick determines the suit. If possible, players must follow suit by playing a card of the same suit from their hand. If no such card is available, then another card may be discarded, but it cannot contribute to the trick unless it's a trump (see below). The player who contributed the highest ranking card wins the trick for their team and gets to start the next trick. Once all thirteen tricks have been played, each pair counts up how many they've won. If the declaring side has made their bid (or higher) then the contract was successful.

If not, the contract was defeated and the defending team will score penalty points. Trumps If the auction (see below) resulted in a suit contract, then than suit will be trumps for the entire hand. Players must still follow suit if they can, but if they've run out of the chosen suit they may play a card from the trump suit instead. This is known as ruffing. A trump beats cards from all other suits, so ruffing is a very powerful technique. If two or more trumps are played in the same hand, then the highest trump wins the trick. Dummy The dummy separates Bridge from most other trick-taking games. Every hand, one member of the declaring side sits out as the dummy. Their entire hand is placed faced up on the table for all players to see. Although the order of play doesn't change, the declarer decides which cards to play from both his hand and dummy's. Once the contract has been decided, the pairs are split into the declaring and defending sides. The player on the declaring team who first mentioned the contract suit during the auction is the declarer. Their partner will be the dummy.

The player to the left of the declarer leads the first card blind, just based on what they can see in their hand. But once this card has been led, the dummy hand is placed face-up on the table for all players to see. For convenience, the cards are arranged in columns with alternating suit colors and the trump suit on the right (declarer's left). For many players, the auction is the heart of Bridge. This is where the contract that governs the play of the hand will be decided. Starting with the dealer and proceeding clockwise, players take it in turns to make a bid. A bid will have two components: the number of tricks the partnership is aiming to make, and the suit that will be trumps. The number of tricks will be between 1 and 7. This represents the number of tricks above six that the player thinks his team can make. (This is done because every bid also carries an implicit intention to win most of the tricks. With 13 tricks each hand, 7 is the lowest number that will give one team a majority.) For example, a bid of 1 means taking at least 7 tricks with clubs as trumps.

A bid of 4 means at least 10 tricks with hearts as trumps. A bid of 7NT means taking all thirteen tricks with no trump suit. Like any other auction, each bid must be higher than the last. The numbers are treated as you would expect, with bids at the 7 level being the highest and bids at the 1 level the lowest. But within each level, the suit rankings come into play. The suits are ranked Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, No Trumps, from lowest to highest. (An easy way to remember this is that the suit names are in alphabetical order.) So the lowest possible bid is 1C and the highest is 7NT. The suit ranking means that if, for example, the bid currently stood at 3 3NT Doubling and Redoubling Another bidding option is to double. If a player doesn't think their opponents can meet their bid, but doesn't want to be in a contract of his own, he can double. This drastically increases the penalty points for defeating a contract, but it also doubles its value and increases the rewards for making overtricks. A doubled contract can then be redoubled by the other team.

Bonuses and penalties for a redoubled contract are twice those for a doubled one. A double or redouble only stands if the other three players then pass. Any other bid cancels the double, although there's nothing to stop a player from doubling this new bid. In rubber bridge there is a score bonus for successfully making a doubled or redoubled contract. These are known as points for the insult. The bonus is 50 for a doubled contract and 100 for a redoubled one. Bridge scoring can seem a little complicated at first, but you'll soon get used to it. Many packs of cards come with a special bridge scoring card that you can use as a reference. One player is in charge of the scoring. Two columns are headed "WE" and "THEY" to designated the scorer's team and their opponents, respectively. A horizontal line is drawn half-way down. Points that contribute towards a game are written below this line, while bonuses, penalties and other points are written above it. The difference between these two affects the course of play, but at the end of play all of the points are added up, with none being more important than the others.

Contracts are worth different amounts depending on the number of tricks and the suit bid. Clubs and Diamonds are known as the minor suits, and tricks bid and made here are worth 20 points each. Hearts and Spades are the major suits, and are worth 30 points per trick. A No Trump contract is the most valuable and calculating the score can be a little tricky: the first trick is worth 40, whereas subsequent tricks are worth 30. To match the bidding levels, only the tricks after the sixth are counted for contract points. So a contract of 1C bid and made requires seven tricks but is worth 20 points (1 x 20). A contract of 3H requires nine tricks and is worth 90 points (3 x 30). A contract of 5NT requires eleven tricks and is worth 160 points (40 + 4 x 30). Points for tricks bid and made go below the line (that horizontal line across the two columns). Once a team has 100 points or more below the line they have won a game. As soon as that happens, a new line is drawn beneath all the scores and the scores below the line are reset.

Winning a second game ends the rubber, and the winning team gets a large bonus. This is worth 500 points if the team wins two games to one, or 700 if they win two games to nil. Tricks which are made but not bid are known as overtricks. These score the same number of points as bid tricks, but these points are placed above the line and don't count towards making game. If the contract was doubled or redoubled, the points for overtricks are increased to 100 and 200, regardless of suit. This is doubled again if the team making the overtricks is vulnerable (see below) Because the aim of Bridge is to win games and rubbers, it's helpful to consider the lowest bids for each suit that can win a game outright. For the minor suits this is at the 5 level (5 x 20 = 100). For majors it's at the 4 level (4 x 30 = 120). But the extra 10 points for the first No Trumps trick means that 3NT is sufficient (40 + 3 x 30 = 100).

It's also important to remember that doubling and redoubling affects the base value of the contract as well as the bonus for overtricks. This doubled or redoubled value goes below the line, and can allow a team to score game at a much lower level than usual! Slams Because only a hundred points are needed for game, it may seem that there is little point in bidding at the higher levels. But there are special incentives for bidding and making contracts of twelve or thirteen tricks. Making twelve tricks is known as a small slam and is worth 500 points. Bidding and winning all thirteen tricks is known as a grand slam and gets a bonus of 1000. These bonuses are not affected by doubling, but if the pair making the slam is vulnerable (see below) then the bonus is increased by 50%. Vulnerability Once a team has won one game they become vulnerable. A vulnerable side faces far stiffer penalties for missing their contracts. Conversely, the rewards for slams and overtricks are increased. Vulnerability is a key bridge concept that affects a lot of the strategy, especially when both sides are at different vulnerabilities. The tables below show the different points and penalties available at different vulnerabilities.

Honor Points In rubber bridge there are a few miscellaneous bonuses for holding certain high cards. The top five cards in a suit (T, J, Q, K, A) are known as the honors. Having four trump honors in a single hand is worth 100 points, and having all five is worth 150. In a No Trump hand, having all four aces scores 150 points. Scoring Tables Here are some tables outlining the points and bonuses awarded for different contracts and vulnerabilities. Contract Points Per Trick Rubber Bridge | American Contract Bridge League Chicago Rubber Bridge Scoring As its name suggests, rubber bridge is played in rubbers. A rubber is the best of three games. A game is won by the first team to score 100 or more points for successful contracts, over several deals if necessary. A side which has already won one game toward the current rubber is said to be vulnerable. A side which has not yet won a game is not vulnerable. A side which is vulnerable is subject to higher bonuses and penalties than one that is not. The score is kept on a piece of paper divided into two columns headed WE and THEY, for the two teams, with a horizontal line part-way down (see example).

Scores for successful contracts are entered below the line, and count toward winning a game. Other scores, such as bonuses for tricks made in excess of the contract (overtricks), or penalties for tricks short of the contract (undertricks) are entered above the line, and do not count toward winning the game. Score for making the contract For a successful contract, the score below the line for each trick (in excess of six, which is referred to as “book”) bid and made is as follows: If trumps are clubs or diamonds: 20 per trick If trumps are hearts or spades: 30 per trick If notrump: 40 for the first trick, and 30 for each subsequent trick If the contract was doubled the above scores are doubled. If it was doubled and redoubled, they are multiplied by 4. In addition, the declarer’s side scores an extra 50 points above the line if they succeed in a doubled contract. This is sometimes known as “50 for the insult.” For making a redoubled contract the bonus is 100 above the line.

Because of the difference in score, clubs and diamonds are called the minor suits, and hearts and spades are the major suits. Slam bonus A contract to make 12 tricks is known as a small slam. A contract to make all 13 tricks is called a grand slam. For bidding and making a slam, declarer’s side gets an extra bonus above the line, depending on their vulnerability, as follows: Slam bonus 1500 Score for overtricks If the declarer’s side wins more tricks than were bid and was not doubled, then in addition to the score below the line for the contract, it scores score for the overtricks above the line at the same rate as for bid tricks, i.e., 20 per trick if a minor suit was trumps; 30 per trick in a major suit or no trumps. If the contract was doubled or redoubled, the bonus for overtricks does not depend on the trump suit, but does depend on whether the declarer’s side was vulnerable as follows: Score per overtrick Redoubled undertricks cost twice as much as doubled undertricks.

Honors The top five trumps (A K Q J 10) are called honors. If one player holds all five of these cards, that player’s side scores a bonus of 150 above the line. Four honors in one hand scores 100. If there are no trumps and a player holds four aces, that player’s side scores 150 for honors. As there is no skill in scoring for honors, players often agree to play without the honor bonuses. Game and Rubber A side that accumulates 100 points or more below the line wins a game. A new line is drawn under the scores. Anything the opponents had below the line does not count toward the next game; they start from zero again. It is important to notice that, starting from zero and in the absence of doubles, to make a game in one hand you need to succeed in a contract of at least 3NT, 4, 4, 5 or 5. The side that first wins two games wins the rubber. For this they get a bonus of 700 if they won it two games to zero, or 500 if it was two games to one.

Both sides’ scores are then totaled. If the game is played for money (or cookies, or pencils), the side with the higher score wins even if the rubber isn’t won. Example of Rubber Bridge Scoring The scoresheet of a completed rubber might look like this (the letters in brackets refer to the footnotes–they would not appear on the scoresheet): We ===========> We bid 2 and made 10 tricks—60 below the line for the contract and 60 above for the overtricks. They bid 4, we doubled them, and they took only eight tricks. We score 100 for their first undertrick and 200 for the second. They bid 3NT and made 10 tricks. This gives them a game (100 below the line). Another line is ruled to indicate this. They bid and made 3. They bid 2 and made six tricks. They are now vulnerable, so we score 100 for each undertrick. We bid 6, they doubled us, but we won all 13 tricks.

We score 360 (180 x 2) below the line for our doubled contract, giving us a game; 100 above for our doubled non-vulnerable overtrick; 50 above for making a doubled contract; and 500 bonus for a small slam bid and made. They bid 1NT and took eight tricks. Note that their 90 was part of the previous game, so the 40 below does not give them a game. We bid 3 and made exactly nine tricks. They bid 3 and took exactly nine tricks giving their second game and the rubber, for a bonus of 500 (two games to one). Adding up the scores, we have 1690 and they have 880. Therefore we have won by 810 points (even though they won the rubber). Miscellaneous Tidbits Bridge Rules Players and Cards There are four players in two fixed partnerships. Partners sit facing each other. It is traditional to refer to the players according to their position at the table as North, East, South and West, so North and South are partners playing against East and West.

In PlaySite Bridge, players are not referred to as "North, East, South and West" -- Instead, the players' usernames are used, and partners still sit across from each other. The game is played clockwise. A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Deal The dealer deals out all the cards one at a time so that each player has 13. Turn to deal rotates clockwise. Bidding There is next an auction to decide who will be the declarer. A bid specifies a number of tricks and a trump suit (or that there will be no trumps). The side which bids highest will try to win at least that number of tricks bid, with the specified suit as trumps. When bidding, the number which is said actually represents the number of tricks in excess of six which the partnership undertakes to win. For example a bid of "two hearts" represents a contract to win at least 8 tricks (8 = 6 + 2) with hearts as trumps.

For the purpose of bidding the possible trump suits rank as follows: no trumps (highest), spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest). A bid of a larger number of tricks always beats a bid of a smaller number, and if the number of tricks bid are equal, the higher suit beats the lower. The lowest bid allowed is "one club" (to win at least 7 tricks with clubs as trumps), and the highest is "seven no trumps" (to win all 13 tricks without trumps). It is also possible, during the auction, to "double" a bid by the other side or to "redouble" the opponents' double. Doubling and redoubling essentially increase the score for the bid contract if won and the penalties if lost. If someone then bids higher, any previous doubles and redoubles are cancelled. The dealer begins the auction, and play passes clockwise.

At each turn a player may either: make a bid, which must be higher than the previous bid if any double, if the previous bid was by an opponent, and has not already been doubled redouble, if the previous bid was by one's own side and has been doubled by an opponent, but not yet redoubled pass, which indicates that the player does not wish to bid, double or redouble on that round, but a player who has passed is still allowed to bid, double or redouble at a later turn. If all four players pass on their first turn to speak the hand is said to be passed out. The cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals. If anyone bids, then the auction continues until there are three passes in succession, and then stops. After three consecutive passes, the last bid becomes the contract. The team who made the final bid will now try to make the contract. The first player of this team who mentioned the denomination (suit or no trumps) of the contract becomes the declarer. The declarer's partner is known as the dummy.

Example of an auction (North dealt): North East South West pass 1 heart double 3 hearts 3 spades pass 4 spades pass pass pass North-South will try to win at least 10 tricks with spades as trumps; North, who mentioned spades first, is the declarer. South's double of one heart was cancelled by West's bid of 3 hearts. Play The player to the left of the declarer leads to the first trick. Immediately after this opening lead, the dummy's cards are exposed. Play proceeds clockwise. Each player must if possible play a card of the suit led. A player with no card of the suit led may play any card. A trick consists of four cards, and is won by the highest trump in it, or no trumps were played by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next. Dummy takes no active part in the play of the hand. Whenever it is dummy's turn to play, the declarer plays one of the dummy's cards. Dummy is not permitted to offer any advice or comment on the play. Scoring As its name suggests, rubber bridge is played in rubbers. A rubber is the best of three games.

A game is won by the first team to score 100 or more points for successful contracts, over several deals if necessary. A side which has already won one game towards the current rubber is said to be vulnerable. A side which has not yet won a game is not vulnerable. A side which is vulnerable is subject to higher bonuses and penalties than one that is not. Scores for successful contracts are entered below the line, and count towards winning a game. Other scores, such as bonuses for tricks made in excess of the contract (overtricks), or penalties for tricks short of the contract (undertricks) are entered above the line, and do not count towards winning the game. Score for Making the Contract For a successful contract, the score below the line for each trick (in excess of 6) bid and made is as follows: If trumps are Clubs or Diamonds, 20 per trick. If trumps are Hearts or Spades, 30 per trick. If there are No Trumps, 40 for the first trick, and 30 for each subsequent trick. If the contract was doubled the above scores are doubled. If it was doubled and redoubled, they are multiplied by 4.

In addition, the declarer's side scores an extra 50 points above the line if they succeed in a doubled contract. This is sometimes known as "50 for the insult". For making a redoubled contract the bonus is 100 above the line. Because of the difference in score, clubs and diamonds are called the minor suits and hearts and spades are the major suits. Slam Bonus A contract to make 12 tricks is known as a small slam. A contract to make all 13 tricks is called a grand slam. For bidding and making a slam, declarer's side get an extra bonus above the line, depending on their vulnerability, as follows: Slam Bonus Small Slam Grand Slam Not Vulnerable 500 1000 Vulnerable 750 1500 Score for Overtricks If the declarer's side wins more tricks than were bid, and were not doubled, then in addition to the score below the line for the contract, they score for the overtricks above the line at the same rate as for bid tricks -- i.e. 20 per trick if a minor suit was trumps; 30 per trick in a major suit or no trumps.

If the contract was doubled or redoubled, the bonus for overtricks does not depend on the trump suit, but does depend on whether the declarer's side was vulnerable as follows: Score per Overtrick Doubled Redoubled Not vulnerable 100 200 Vulnerable 200 400 Penalty for Undertricks If the declarer's side win fewer tricks than they bid, neither side scores anything below the line, but the declarer's opponents score above the line. This score depends on the declarer's side's vulnerability, and whether the contract was doubled or redoubled, as follows: Undertrick Penalty Not vulnerable Vulnerable Not Doubled (Each Undertrick) 50 100 Doubled (1st Undertrick) 100 200 Doubled (2nd & 3rd Undertricks) 200 each 300 each Doubled (4th+ Undertricks) 300 each 300 each Redoubled undertricks cost twice as much as doubled undertricks. Game and Rubber A side that accumulates 100 points or more below the line has won a game.

A new line is drawn under the scores. Anything the opponents had below the line does not count towards the next game -- they start from zero again. Notice that, starting from zero and in the absence of doubles, to make a game in one hand you need to succeed in a contract of at least three no trumps, four spades, four hearts, five clubs or five diamonds. The side which first wins two games wins the rubber. For this they get a bonus of 700 if they won it two games to zero, or 500 if it was two games to one. Both sides scores are then totaled and the side with the higher score wins the difference in money (if playing for money) from the side with less. Partnership Agreement & Conventions As in most card games, partners are forbidden to convey information to each other directly. However, there is considerable scope for partners to exchange information within the rules of the game by their choice of bids or cards played. The bidding mechanism is such that if a player makes a bid (or double or redouble), it is always possible for the player's partner at their next turn to override that bid with a higher bid. This makes it possible for partners to assign arbitrary meanings to bids.

Bids which can be taken at face value -- that is they convey a genuine wish to play a contract to take the relevant number of tricks or more with the trump suit stated -- are called natural. Bids which carry an agreed meaning other than this are called artificial or conventional. For example if we are partners, we might agree that a bid of one club by me shows a strong hand, but has nothing to do with wanting clubs as trumps. Provided that we both understand this, you will not leave me to play a contract of one club, but will make some other bid, natural or artificial. The main restriction on agreements between partners about the meaning of bids is that all such agreements must be declared to the opponents. A bidding system is a comprehensive set of partnership agreements about the meanings of bids. Players should declare their system (if any) at the start of a session. In addition, any player, at their turn to bid or at the end of the auction, may ask for and be given an explanation of the opponents' bidding agreements. The explanation should be given by the partner of the player who made the bid in question. Similar considerations apply to the play. Partners may agree on the meaning of the choice of card played in certain circumstances.

For example we may agree that when leading from a sequence of adjacent high cards such as K-Q-J we always lead the highest. Again, the opponents are entitled to know about such agreements. They may be asked about during the play. In rubber bridge one does not often come across complicated systems and partnership agreements. One is often playing with an unfamiliar partner, or in an informal setting. Complicated agreements are more often encountered in duplicate bridge, where the players are often long-standing partners who have devoted considerable effort to their system. Bridge rules written by John McLeod, of the Card Rules Pages. Auction, Honeymoon, Reverse and Three-Handed Bridge - How to Play Bridge | HowStuffWorks How to Play Bridge You now have a good idea how to play Contract Bridge, the most popular version of bridge. Let's take a look at some other bridge variations -- Auction, Honeymoon, Reverse and Three-Handed Bridge: Auction Bridge Auction Bridge had its heyday from about 1900 to 1930, before yielding to Contract Bridge. Number of players: Four Object: To score points. In Auction Bridge, if you take enough tricks, you score game and slam bonuses without regard to how high the bidding ended.

The cards: Regular pack 52-card deck. To play: The auction, procedure of play, and rules of play are already described in Contract Bridge on the first page of this article. Only the scoring changes in Auction Bridge. Scoring: Auction Bridge underwent several scoring changes, and this is the final version. A rubber ends when one side scores two games. Game is 30 points in trick-score: , , , , and NT score 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 points per trick, scored below the line. When one side reaches 30, both sides start anew on the next game. Winning the rubber (two games) earns a 250-point bonus. Winning 12 of 13 tricks earns a 50-point small slam bonus, and winning all 13 tricks (a grand slam) receives a 100-point reward. Making doubled or redoubled contracts doubles or redoubles the trick-score. Overtricks (extra tricks made) at a doubled contract count 50 each, and redoubled overtricks are 100 each.

Failing to make a contract costs 50 per trick undoubled, 100 doubled, and 200 redoubled. Bonuses are given to hands that contain any of the following: 3 of top 5 honors (A, K, Q, J, and 10 of trump) or 3 aces at NT (may be divided between hands), 30 points; 4 honors or 4 aces at NT (divided), 40 points; 5 trump honors divided, 50 points; 4 trump honors in one hand, 80 points; 4 trump honors in one hand, with 5th in partner's hand, 90 points; 4 aces in one hand (at NT), 100 points; 5 honors in one hand, 100 points. Tips: The bidding in Auction is less sophisticated than in Contract Bridge, since the main idea is to buy the contract at a low level. But you might not have found the best suit for your side. Look to take as many tricks as you can, since the possibility of winning a game or slam is alive on every hand.

Honeymoon Bridge This is one of the most popular two-player Bridge variants. Number of Players: Two To play: This is a great game for honeymooners and other couples. Players sit next to (not opposite) each other. Dealer deals out four hands, including a dummy hand for each player. Deal each dummy hand as follows: First, deal out two rows of three cards face down. Then place one card face up on top of each face-down card. Deal the last card face up next to the rows. Bid as in normal Bridge, except that a single pass ends the auction. The play goes this way, with each player controlling the cards played from the partner/dummy hand across the table: The hand at declarer's left makes the opening lead. Players select the cards played only from among the exposed cards in their dummy hands. After the trick is finished, turn up any uncovered card in their dummy. Any newly revealed card may now be played. Reverse Bridge This four-handed game turns all the rules upside-down! To play: Rules and play are as in regular Bridge, but the object is entirely the opposite: You try to force opponents to take the tricks for the bid you make.

So, if your side wins a final contract of 4 , your job is to get your opponents to take at least 10 of 13 tricks with s as trumps. You get the score for any contract you force the opponents to make. Strategy: Instead of saving the high cards your side holds to play on different tricks, as in regular Bridge, you'll play as high a card as you can that you think will still lose a trick. When your side does take a trick, try to put high cards on it from both hands so that you can save your losing cards to help you later in the hand! Three-Handed Bridge Waiting for a fourth player to show up, lots of folks have sought ways for only three players to enjoy Bridge. Though no method comes close to the real thing, here's one way to have some fun. Number of players: Three To play: Deal out four hands, with the fourth hand (which will become a dummy) left on the table opposite the dealer with four cards turned up. Players will bid for the right to become declarer opposite the dummy on the table, and play out the contract against the two other players, who will defend.

Dealer begins the bidding, and the final contract is agreed to after two passes. Shift places, if needed, to bring declarer opposite the dummy hand. After the opening lead, turn up the face-down dummy cards to let declarer see the dummy before planning a line of play. Scoring: The scoring is the same as in Contract Bridge, but it can get a little complicated keeping track of three scores. A contract may be doubled and redoubled, but that applies to the scores of only the two players involved. The third scores for an undoubled contract. You've learned how to play two variations on four-handed bridge as well as versions for two and three players. Now there's no limit to developing your bridge skills -- you'll be an impressive player before you know it! Up Next Grand Slam Force Terms Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a near-certainty and a grand slam (winning all 13 tricks) is a possibility.

It allows one partner to gain information on the quality of trumps in the other partner's hand. When this convention is in force, a bid of 5NT (No Trump), when it does not conflict with other conventions used by that partnership (e.g., a 5NT Blackwood bid), is forcing to slam in the suit last bid, unless the trump suit has already been agreed on earlier in the auction. The partner of the 5NT bidder bids as follows: 6 of the agreed trump suit if holding one of the top three trump honors (e.g., the ace) 7 of the agreed trump suit if holding two of the top three trump honors (e.g., the king and queen) For example, if a partnership is using the Grand Slam Force and one member bids 1♥ and his or her partner bids 5NT, it is implied that hearts are the desired trump suit. The original bidder will sign off with 6♥ with one of the top three heart honors, and bid 7♥ with two of the top three heart honors. As with all bidding systems, the Grand Slam Force has its limitations. Also, numerous variations on this convention have been developed.

Question: Winning all 13 tricks in a hand of Contract Bridge is known as what?
Answer: Grand Slam